Throughout fantasy football, the running backs have dominated leagues over time. But with the uptick in passing rate by the modern NFL offenses, the wide receiver position has become more critical than ever. Especially in the later rounds, there seem to be league-winning wide receivers that were taken very late in drafts. Last season, it was Brian Thomas Jr. and Ladd McConkey. The year before, it was Puka Nacua and Nico Collins. Who are those players going to be this year? This article goes through three late-round wide receivers who have the chance to be league winners. This list will focus on receivers that are ranked outside of the top 30 receivers on ESPN. Let’s get into it.
3 Must-Draft Sleeper Wide Receivers for Fantasy Football
1) Rome Odunze
Tell me if this sounds familiar. You have a super-talented first-round rookie wide receiver who had a pretty disappointing rookie season. The team then decides to fire the offensive coordinator, and with a brand new coach, that player becomes a top 10 wide receiver for fantasy football. The player I am referring to is Jaxon Smith-Njigba from last season—after firing Shane Waldron, the talented wide receiver thrived in the Seahawks’ new offense. Now, this is quite literally the same situation we have for Rome Odunze of the Chicago Bears.
Last season, the Chicago Bears hired Shane Waldron, only to quickly realize he was not a very good offensive coordinator for the team. Now, the Bears bring in an offensive guru in Ben Johnson, who gets his hands on this super-talented, first-round NFL Draft pick in Odunze. I’m projecting that the entire Bears offense will get better under Johnson, along with the leap from Caleb Williams. This leads me to believe that Odunze is going to be a great fantasy football pick at his current price. I would be drafting Rome Odunze in any situation I can.
2) George Pickens
The next player on this list is going to be George Pickens. I think that Pickens is probably the easiest player to predict a big fantasy football season for this upcoming season. This offseason, Pickens was traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Dallas Cowboys with one year left on his current deal. Over the past few seasons, we have viewed Pickens as a highly talented receiver who was constantly being hindered by the situation around him with the Steelers. Now, Pickens being in a Cowboys uniform changes everything.
When Dak Prescott was last healthy in 2023, his second-best receiver option was an older Brandin Cooks. Cooks finished the year still inside the top-40 wide receivers for fantasy football, scoring eight touchdowns. Now, we can all agree that Pickens is way more talented than Brandin Cooks. This is why I love Pickens at his ADP this year. He is in an offense that should struggle with the run game, with a below-average defense. Prescott and the Cowboys are going to have to throw the ball a lot, and I expect Pickens to benefit from that passing volume he never had in Pittsburgh.
3) Ricky Pearsall
The last player on this list is Ricky Pearsall—another situation where a talented first-round receiver is going to get his chance at some good volume. Brandon Aiyuk is going to start the year on the PUP List, and Jauan Jennings has had setbacks with injuries, along with looking for a new contract extension. This is going to put Pearsall in a role that has successfully produced for fantasy football, the starting number one receiver in a Kyle Shanahan-led offense. It’s very confusing how Pearsall is ranked below guys like Chris Godwin, Deebo Samuel, and Jordan Addison. Draft Pearsall in every draft you can, even if you have to reach.
Honorable Mentions and Wrap-Up
For the honorable mentions, I have all of the rookie wide receivers. If you noticed, 3/4 of the names that I mentioned in the introduction were rookie wide receivers. Over the past few seasons, rookie wide receivers have been hits more frequently than in previous years. This is why you should be leaving your drafts with at least one, maybe two, rookie receivers from this year’s draft class. Tetairoa McMillain, Travis Hunter, Matthew Golden, and Emeka Egbuka are all guys that I am drafting above their current ADP. Even later sleepers like Jayden Higgins and Tre Harris should also be on your radar.
As the last word, I went over three wide receivers that you should be targeting in every fantasy football draft. Those guys were Rome Odunze, George Pickens, and Ricky Pearsall. I also gave some honorable mentions, which were all of the rookie wide receivers for this upcoming season.
Main Image: David Banks-Imagn Images
